1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fishing lures, and more particularly to devices that animate fishing lures to simulate the motions of various creatures prayed on by game fish.
2. Descriptions of the Prior Art
It has long been known by experienced freshwater sport fisherman that devices that animate fishing lures attract fish. Armed with this knowledge, sport fishing equipment suppliers have designed various devices for animating fishing lures as they are pulled through the water. Two recent examples of animators are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,362 issued to Lewis and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,088 issued to Wardell. Lewis discloses a pair of symmetrical blades which have angled flanges that are designed to cause the blades to rotate and swivel as the blades are pulled through water. Wardell discloses a substantially flat circular disk having a radial crease and a central orifice. Wardell's disk is carried by a fishing line or wire substantially normal to the line or wire as it is pulled through the water. The crease in Wardell's disk causes the disk to vibrate or oscillate in a regular fashion as it travels through the water. The fishing lure animating devices of the Lewis and Wardell patents animate a fishing lure in a way typical of prior art fishing lure animating devices in that they produce regular movements.
However, the purpose of using a fishing lure animating device is to cause a fishing lure to simulate the movements of a water creature, and more ideally, a distressed or injured water creature. Water creatures generally, and distressed or injured water creatures in particular do not exhibit regular movements. Typically, they tend to oscillate randomly between rest and motion. Many small water creatures, in fact, tend to move through the water by bursts of propulsive motion followed by a gliding action. Therefore, fisherman are more likely to benefit from a lure animator which produced random, irregular or intermittent motions as opposed to regular motions.
Consequently, a need exists for a fishing lure animator which will cause a fishing lure to move in a random and intermittent manner which would more closely simulate actual water creature movements and thus be more likely to fool game fish into pursuing such lore.